Dutch four-way coalition talks collapse over migration

Image source, Reuters

Image caption, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has so far been unable to form a government with three other parties

Negotiations to form the next Dutch government have collapsed as the four parties involved were unable to decide what to do about migration.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte's centre-right VVD party had sought to strike a deal with the liberal D66, the Christian Democrats and the Green-Left.

The talks had been running for 61 days since an election in March.

The Green-Left support open borders, while the other three want stricter controls.

The minister who had been tasked with forming the new government will submit a report to parliament before the members discuss how to proceed.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-EU, anti-Islam Freedom Party, welcomed the news, saying he was ready to talk.

His party came second in the polls.

In 2012 it took 54 days for two parties to form a government in the Netherlands, the sixth-biggest economy in the EU.